Letter-carrier&#39;s desk



C. F. HEATH.

LETTER CABRIERS DESK.

APPLICATION FILED APII.2I. Ism.

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l LETTER CAHRIERS DESK. APPLICATION FILED APR. 2h 1917.

1,376,333 Patented Apr. 26, 1921,

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LETTER-CARRIERS DESK.

Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented Apr. 26, 1921.

Application ledApi'l 21, 1917. Y SerialNo. 163,634.

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE F. HEATH, a citizen of the United States, residing at vWashington, yin the District Vof Columbia, have invented certain. new and useful Improvements in Letter-Carriers Desks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention .relates/to post-office .furniture and especially to letter carriers desks which. are used for sorting and routing mail preparatory to being delivered.

The main object of my invention is to provide an improved desk and routing case which will greatly facilitate the sorting and routing of the mail. To this end I provide separate compartments or sections of the desk for letters and for papers and I make the desk exceedingly compact by having 'the paper receiving'section perpendicular to the letter receiving-section and arranged tov slide forwardly intov operative positionr and rearwardly at the side of the other section when not in use. The shelves are open at the frontv and-back in order that the desk may be easily cleaned and kept strictly sanitary. The wire-formed partitions are carriedv by the shelves and those in the letter section may be provided with a 'forwardly projecting guiding. nose or lip to assist in guiding the letters intoy the proper pigeon-hole or compartment and indicating the separating line between adjacent compartments. Furthermore I make the shelvesl slidable so that after the mail has been sorted theshelves may be pushed back until the letters project and overhang the front edges of the lshelves which permits them to be'more readily withdrawn. This featureresults in a very great saving of time and greatly facilitates the handling of the mail.

The several features above referred to,

Vtogether with other improvements will be understoodV from' the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings, in .which Figure 1-is an end .elevation taken lfrom the side opposite vthe paper fso'rting section; Fig. 2 isa vertical section through the letter sorting section; Fig. 3 -is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal section through the lower partof the paper sorting section andthe table top; and Fig. 4: is a detail view showing the use of the wire partitions; Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspectiveshowing the removable letter section;

-and Figs. 6 and 7 are top plan and longitu- -movable rmovement oflthe shelves. Bars 17, fastened dinal sectional views of another form of paper rack or slide. c

The table 1 is of some suitable or usual construction on which the mailv is received while it is being sorted.

T he routing or sorting case comprises two sections, one for they letters and the other for the papers and packages,each consisting of a series of shelves divided into compartments by wire partitions. I prefer to make the bottom tier of compartments in the letter section 5 in the form of a unitary box or section 6, open at the front and back and divided into a number of pigeon-holes by iixed -partitions 8, which preferably extend from :the back to within a short distance of the front. vThis rpigeon-hole box or section is removable and can be taken out when ldesirable to -add to the space on the top of .the table. A'I prefery to close the case at the back of the section by a solid board 7 as shown in Fig. 5.

Each pigeon-hole and also each shelf 9, is divided into a number of compartments by .wire partitions 10, the vertical ends of the wires fitting into holes in the shelves. If -tlie mail in any buildingfor to any firm or individual on the carriers route is quite large, the compartment assigned to that building, firm or individual, may be enlarged by removingrv one or more of the wire partitions. In fact an entire pigeon-hole may be made into a single compartment by removing all of the wire partitions therefrom.

Each of the shelves 9 slides in grooves inthe upright ends 14,y and is readily re- Stops 15 limit the rearward vby cleats 18, or in any suitable-manner, are placed slightly above the shelvesv and at a 'short distance from the back to serve as stops against which lthe letters abut as they are slid into the compartments.

-f One form ofthe partitions shown at 20 -consists of wires bent intov a loop and formed with a tongue or nose 21, projecting horizontally toward the front', the ends of the wire being inserted in holes in the top of the shelf. The parts are so proportioned that the tongues 21 project nearly flush with the front ends ofthe letters when the -shelves are in their forward position as when said compartments are full of mail and also as guides for the letters as they are inserted in the compartments. The lower ends of the loops adjacent the top of the shelves prevent the letters from sliding into the adjacent compartments. I have shown another form of wire partition at 23, in which the front leg of the loop eX- tends upwardly from the shelf substantially vertically a distance equal to about onehalf the width of an ordinary envelop, and then extends rearwardly horizontally for about an equal distance; the wire being then bent into an upwardly extending loop about three inches in height so that its top edge is slightly below the top edge of the ordinary envelops, the rear leg of the wire sloping rearwardly in an oblique direction. In this form of partition the front vertical leg is preferably slightly back of the front edge of the shelf and forms a guide for the letters as they are inserted, the letters being further guided by the horizontalV portion, the upwardly extending loop and the oblique rear leg. The inclined rear leg of the partition effectually prevents the letters from passing into the adjacent compartment.

the desk, thus revolutionizing the method of handling the enormous amount of paper mail handled in the post ofiice and thereby causing a great saving of time. rIhe paper rack comprises a case 3() provided with a number of removable shelves 31 which slide iny grooves in theend uprights of the case and abut at their rear edges against transverse stops 34. The shelves are divided into compartments by means of wire loop partitions 35 having their ends secured in holes in the top sides of the shelves forming much wider compartments than are used in the letter rack. Transverse horizontal stops 36 serve as back stops for the papers and also serve to brace the uprights and make the case more rigid. The bottom member 38 ofthe paper rack is provided with means for slidably'engaging the top of the table extension 39 and which also serves to securely hold the rack when it is slid into its forward position, indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 with the forward end overhanging the table extension 39. As one means of accomplishing this function I have shown the bottom member 38 provided with a depending dove tail projection 40 which is adapted to slide in a dove tail groove in the table 39. The dove tail piece 40 mayeXtend partially along the bottom of the member 38 as indicated in Fig. 6 so that it may be positioned in the forward and rearward positions by abutting against the front stop 41 and the frear stop 42 respectively. The desk arm 45 at the right'hand end of the table may eX- tend the full width of the table top but the arm 46 upon the other side which is adjacent the paper rack isv shorter and .of a width to extend from the letter-rack to the rear end of the paper rack when the latter is drawn outwardly into its forward position, in order that the arm may not interfere with access to the compartments on the lower shelf of the paper rack.

Ihe operation'of my letter and paper sorting and routing desk will be understood from the foregoing detailed description of the construction. When it is desired to sort the mail which has been laid upon"` Ithe table of one of the desks, the paper-rack is drawn forward into the position shown in Fig. 2 and indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, thefront end of the dove tail member 40 being then in engagement with the front stop 41. The entire set of racks, both for the letters and for the papers and packages are thus within easy reach of the letter carrier, none of the shelves being so high as to be` difficult to reach. I have found that this arrangement greatly facilitates the sorting and distribution of mail and results in: a considerable saving of time. Moreover by bringing all of the shelves within easy reach, less eifort is required and the work is correspondingly less tiresome. During the sorting operation, the shelves 9 of the letter-rack remain in their forward position, theV front edges of the shelves being substantially flush with the front of the letter-case as indicated in Fig. 5; As previously stated, the horizontally projecting nose or lip portions 21 serve to indicate the position of the separating partitions and also assist in Yguiding the letters intothe compartments. The rear ends of the letters are arrested by'the stops 17 and ordinarily leave the nose members 21 nearly Hush with the forward ends of the letters. appreciate the advantages of this arrangement. When the partitions 23 are employed, having the horizontal portion 23a, there is nomdanger of the unusuallyl small envelops falling sidewisevinto adjacent compartments. When partitions 20 are employed, I prefer to place the nose member 21 in a position where it will strike the lower part of the letters as they are inserted into the compartments. A very material advantage. and perhaps the most important reason for locating the bottom of the com- Letter carriers especially willv partments is that the position does not interfere with the free space which is desirable and facilitates the rapid distribution of the mail. It will be observed that while the narrow guiding tongue member 21 extends nearly flush with the front of the case or rack, the front part of the main body of the loop 2O is spaced back a considerable distance therefrom to thus leave the front part of the space between the shelves unobstructed. These features are quite important and will be appreciated by letter carriers in general.

After the paper mail has been assorted the carrier pulls it from the shelves and lays it in proper order and then fastens it into a bundle by means of a strap. It will be found convenient first to, extend the strap across the table 1 and in order that the buckle on the strap will .not be in the way, I may provide a hole 50 in the arm 45, through which the buckle may project. After the papers have been strapped up and out of the way the carrier proceeds to draw and strap up his letters. The shelves 9 are pushed rearwardly until they engage the back strips 15 and are in a position indicated in Fig. 4. The letters, however, will be held by the stops 17 so that the shelves will slide beneath them and be left with their front ends overhanging the shelves and projecting in front of the guide 21, or the front leg of the form 23. This greatly facilitates the withdrawal of the letters as their front ends may much more readily be grasped when the shelves and partitions have been pushed back out of the way.

After the mail has been withdrawn from the racks, the paper-rack may be pushed back into the position shown in Fig. 1, the movement being arrested by the dove tail 40 striking the rear stop 42.

Instead of the form of paper rack shown in Fig. 1, I may provide an open top shelf shown in Figs. 6 and 7, especially when the mail is light. This may consist of a sliding shelf 56, having upright members 57, 5S along one side and at the rear end,

land preferably with a low upright 59 at the front end.

This may be slid forward in the same manner as the paper rack described in connection with Fig. 1. For this purpose the bottom of the shelf may be provided with a depending T-shaped member 60 adapted to slide in the slot 61 as the shelf is drawn forward, the-front part of the shelf being guided by a block 62, on the table moving in a slot 63 in the bottom of the shelf.

I have described in detail the particular construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings for the purpose of clearly disclosing an embodiment of my invention but it will be evident to engineers and skilled mechanics that the various changesand modifications may be made within the scope of my claims and without in any manner departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim In a routing case, the combination wlth a plurality of shelves, of partitions therefor dividing the shelves into compartments, each partition comprising a wire bent into substantially U-shape, the ends being inserted into the upper side of the shelves, the front leg of the partition member being formed with an intermediate horizontally extending portion to serve as a guide for the mail matter, the lower ends of the wire preventing the mail matter from sliding into adja- -cent compartments, and the rear leg being inclined rearwardly to serve as a guide for the mail matter as it is being inserted.

In testimony whereof I aiiX my signa-V ture.

CLARENCE F. HEATH. 

